McLennan dominates Florence-Darlington in JUCO opener

The McLennan Highlanders opened the 2021 JUCO World Series with a dominating 7-0 shutout of the Florence-Darlington Stingers. Logan Henderson picked up the win on the mound for the Highlanders, recording 14 strikeouts and allowing just five hits in eight innings.

McLennan jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Miguel Santos drew a leadoff walk and scored on a triple by Garrett Martin. Mason Greer followed with the two-run homer.

The Highlanders added a run with Miguel Santos' solo home run in the second.

Two more McLennan runs scored in the fourth. Jaylen Williams, Izzy Lopez and Santos all singled to load the bases. Williams came in to score on a balk, and Lopez scored on a single by Greer.

The final Highlander urn came in the bottom of the eighth as Williams doubled and scored on a single by Santos.

McLennan advances in the winner's bracket and will face either Crowder or Indian Hills at 8:30 p.m. (CT) Monday.

McLennan 7, Florence-Darlington 0
Florence-Darlington 000 000 000 – 0 5 0
McLennan 310 200 01x – 7 14 1
Nathan Williams, Jorge Oleaga (4) and J.T. Marr. Logan Henderson, Gray Harrison (9) and Dominic Tamez. WP: Henderson, LP: Williams. Leading hitters – Florence-Darlington: Patrick Matthews (3-4); McLennan: Miguel Santos (3-4, HR, 2 RBI), Blake Jackson (1-4, 2B), Garrett Martin (1-4, 3B, RBI), Mason Greer (2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Alex Lopez (2-4, 2B), and Jaylen Williams (3-4, 2B). Record: McLennan 43-16 (24-7).